We have made numerous investments in Atlantic Canada, not the least of which is the historic investment to build ships in Atlantic Canada for the Royal Canadian Navy. It will bring about massive opportunity and employment, coupled with other important investments we have made in communities throughout Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. I am extremely proud of the one-year anniversary of our majority government and just how much time, effort and money we have put into the needs of the people of Nova Scotia.

Mr. Speaker, there are 6,500 disabled veterans who are not very proud of the Conservative government.

Yesterday a Federal Court judge ruled unequivocally, after five years of legal wrangling, that the SISIP payment for pain and suffering should not be deducted as income, yet the Conservative government continues to take them to court.

Now the government can do the right thing. It can stop the legal challenge and stop wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lawyers. It can stand up, meet with Dennis Manuge and his legal team, reach a settlement and give these heroes of our country, those 6,500 disabled veterans, the money they so rightly deserve.

Mr. Speaker, all of the inaccuracies in the member's statement come as no surprise to me. This is a member whom we have seen consistently, throughout his entire career, vote against every single measure that has been taken by this government and previous governments to make the lives of veterans, members of the forces and their families better. I merely point to the fact that he has voted against providing funding to assist five new operational stress clinics, the creation of the Veterans Ombudsman and the $282 million to expand the veterans independence program.

We have made great strides in helping veterans and we will continue to do so.

Mr. Speaker, one year after our strong, stable, national majority government victory, we are proud of how much work we have done to support families. In the last election, we made specific promises to support families. Would the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development please provide an update to the House with some of the promises for families that the government has delivered in the last year?

Mr. Speaker, as members know, we also increased accessibility and funding for the Canada student loan program. We launched the children's art tax credit and the family caregiver tax credit. We also provided the largest increase in the guaranteed income supplement for Canada's lowest-income seniors that has been seen in over a decade. We are proud to have delivered so many things for Canadian families. It is a shame that the opposition did not support any of those things.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are breaking their election promises and making decisions that harm the economy of the regions.

In my riding, for the past ten years, the Economic Development Agency of Canada has funded the youth employment program for the Centre d'aide aux entreprises de Montmagny-L'Islet, which has had some of the best results in Quebec. One hundred entrepreneurial projects have been supported by the program.

Jacques GourdeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services

Mr. Speaker, in 2011-12, we signed an agreement with the Centre d'aide aux entreprises de Montmagny-L'Islet, which clearly stated that the agreement would be in effect for one year.

In March 2011, we entered into a $154 million comprehensive five-year agreement with the Sociétés d'aide au développement des collectivités and the Centre d'aide aux entreprises du Québec to support economic development in Quebec's regions. Under this agreement, the Sociétés d'aide au développement des collectivités are the only organizations involved in delivering the youth employment strategy program. No Centre d'aide aux entreprises receives funding for that program.

Mr. Speaker, following the legal action taken by the Government of Quebec to save the data in the Canadian firearms registry, to force Air Canada to respect its obligations and to prevent changes to the Senate, now the Conservatives are provoking another dispute with Quebec by trying to exempt their friends, the banks, from consumer protection legislation.

Why has the Minister of Finance not responded to the Quebec Justice Minister's letter of April 19, confirming to him in black and white that the banks will continue to be subject to the Quebec consumer protection laws?

Mr. Speaker, it is odd to hear this type of question, particularly when we know that two historic issues were resolved over the past year: that of Old Harry, the offshore oil reserve, and that of sales tax harmonization, which was dragging on for 10 years.

It is also odd to hear the Bloc Québécois ask a question about the Senate, when we are proposing to reform this obsolete institution. We are proposing the option of elected senators and Senate term limits because we know that a senator could be in office for 45 years. Most Quebeckers do not agree with that and want us to reform the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the following reports of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group respecting its participation in the following two meetings: First, the 51st annual meeting of the Regional Policy Forum of the Eastern Regional Conference that was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 7 to 10, 2011; and second, the 66th annual meeting of the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments that was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, July 17 to 20, 2011.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources in relation to its study of the current and future state of oil and gas pipelines and refining capacity in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, we strongly criticized the report that comes from the majority of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources because we believe the report simply echoes the government's unbalanced oil extraction policy that does not take into consideration the damage to Canada's environment and to its economy. We say that the majority in the report wants to fast track pipelines and strip away environmental protections with no regard for the consequences to our environment or our economy.

As members know, we have lost thousands of jobs in the refinery capacity. Dozens of refineries have closed as well. There is hope. The NDP has filed a dissenting opinion. It emphasizes the need for a Canadian energy strategy, focuses on protecting high quality, long-term jobs in the refining sector, and the need to ensure sustainable and responsible resource development through a robust environmental assessment process. We hope the public will look at our dissenting opinion.